Sunday, April 27, 2008

I hadn't thought of it this way before

I’m not the most important person in terms of bringing the party together. The most important person is the person who doesn’t win the nomination. Because I can remember when I lost to John Kerry, I had to go out and convince my supporters, it took me about 3 months, that they needed to support Sen. Kerry. I endorsed him, I campaigned for him, I went to all the college campuses and that’s what the person who doesn’t win this with 49% of the delegate is going to have to do keep the party together.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Greasing the skids

I'm speculating, with no evidence at all except patterns of past behaviour, that the recent sabre-rattling against Iran is just to grease the skids for the confirmation hearings for The Man Called Petraeus (copyright Digby) not to mention trying to support McSame's pathetic warmongeringBut, of course, I could be wrong.Did you know they found actual guns and other scary things in Iraq that were marked "Made in Iran and endorsed by the Iran Government for use exclusively in Iraq or Israel"? Really and for true!

I try to support unions, but really!

Thousands of people headed to work or planning other trips were forced to walk, call cabs or scramble to find other ways to get around after the 9,000 members of the Amalgamated Transit Union walked out at midnight, just hours after rejecting a tentative contract proposal Friday night.

And then the union leadership blames the public for this wildcat walkout:

Union leader Bob Kinnear said he had no choice but to set aside a promise to give 48 hours notice of a walkout out of concern for the safety of his members given some "irrational members of the public."

If he thinks the Toronto retail workers and shoppers who were stranded this morning hated the transit workers before, just wait until he sees what they'll be dealing with after they go back to work.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Major leagues

So the threats didn't work and lawsuits didn't work and spinning didn't work and now the Conservatives think whining for sympathy will get Elections Canada off their backs.

...flak-jacket-clad RCMP officers storming in and copying everything . . . most of his staff is very young, the majority under 30. The official said staffers were petrified . . . RCMP at first knocked on the door and then “pushed their way in.”

Oh, cry me a river. If you don't like politics, go work for a florist.What the Conservatives don't seem to grasp is that they're no longer playing in the bush leagues. Elections Canada is immune to bullying because they have spent the last 20 years duking it out with the federal Liberal Party.Both sides in that battle knew that concocting and ferreting out schemes to subvert election rules is the way the game is played. I would imagine that Elections Canada is somewhat amazed that the Conservatives continue to fight a losing battle instead of quietly 'fessing up and moving on'

UPDATE: Dave says its as though they never expanded their view beyond grade four.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Just say no

Sounds like it was a badge of shame in the Ottawa press gallery to be invited to this little spin session about the Elections Canada raid:

On Sunday, high-ranking Conservative officials, including campaign director Doug Finley, chief media spokesman Ryan Sparrow and party lawyer Paul Lepsoe held briefings for hand-picked journalists in a downtown hotel room in an effort to shape the emerging story ahead of the warrant's release.When other reporters learned of the briefing, the officials switched the encounter from the Lord Elgin hotel two blocks west to the Sheraton.That effort proved fruitless. The uninvited reporters quickly learned of the new location and gathered in the hallway outside the meeting room. Sparrow opened and quickly closed the door on the prying newcomers."This is a private meeting," he repeatedly told the CBC's Keith Boag.Those who managed to get inside the door were handed a sheaf of documents and a CD-ROM containing the warrant and affidavit material.Sources say the accompanying spin session touched on most of the same points the party has been making since the raid.But none of the officials would repeat their lines in public when they emerged from the room to be greeted by reporters who weren't on their guest list.Instead they scurried for a nearby exit and beat a hasty retreat down the fire stairs . . . The Canadian Press, the CBC, Maclean's, the Globe and Mail and the Halifax Chronicle Herald were among those who were not invited to the party's briefing.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Great post of the day

Lance Mannion hits the nail right on the head -- first, about why Hillary inspires such diffidence:

The Insiders think that McCain and Clinton and Obama are running for the job of National Best Drinking Buddy and they've already decided McCain's the right man for that job, emphasis on man because who wants to drink with a woman you can't go to bed with or tell your troubles to? Oh sure, Hillary will listen to you tell her your troubles, but then she'll have suggestions about what to do about those troubles. When the Insiders complain that Hillary reminds them of their first wives or of a schoolteacher or of whatever other gynophobic stereotype bubbles up out of the parts of their distressed psyches where their castration complexes lurk, they are putting their finger right on her problem as they see it. She doesn't want to hear how misunderstood you think you are, she wants you to take out the trash right now, thanks, she wants you to buckle down and do your homework.

Then about why Democrats can't get fair and balanced treatment from the so-called Librull press:

Obama is furious that it took Gibson and Stephanopoulos forty-five minutes to get around to asking their first substantive question about policy, about what Clinton and Obama would actually do if they get to the White House. But Gibson and Stephanopoulos probably resent the fact that they had to bring up policy at all.The Insiders hate the Democrats because the Democrats actually plan to do things. And they want to talk about the things they want to do and how they plan to do them. So in order to cover a Democrat, journalists have to be able to keep up with discussions of policy and the intricacies of government, and most of our Journalistic Elite can't do this.They are too lazy or too dumb or too drunk or too full of themselves to enjoy paying someone else the respect of listening to their ideas and taking them seriously.And this is where Democrats keep making their bloomer.They keep expecting the likes of Gibson and Stephanopoulos to take things like the future of the country seriously. They keep expecting them to pay attention. They keep expecting them to have done their homework. And when it turns out that the Insiders are content to be lazy and dumb and vain and foolish, they can't hide their disgust and their disdain.The Insiders know that Al Gore and John Kerry and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama know they are clowns. It is very difficult to suffer fools gladly. Gore and Obama aren't good at that all. Kerry and Clinton are only marginally better.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Iron this, buddy! Part 2

Lambert highlights the increasing hysteria of Clinton Derangement Syndrome, which has reached the point that Obama supporters think their candidate's message of inclusiveness gives them such moral superiority that they can drum Hillary supporters out of the Democratic party -- Jerome Armstrong describes them as "tiny tent democrats".It's off-putting, isn't it, to see them acting like 'unbelievers' are 'the enemy'. Especially when their candidate, Barak Obama, didn't exactly turn in an outstanding performance in the ABC debate -- a fact noted even by Jon Stewart, who did a mash of Obama's verbal stumbles and stutters.The conventional wisdom about the ABC debate is that Obama was being pestered with picayune right-wing talking points because he is the frontrunner. But Hillary has been pestered by the right wing for 20 years, and she just laughs it off -- absolutely the only way to deal with it. And she doesn't apologize for laughing, either. I was amazed that Obama didn't seem to have quick, firm, dismissive answers to this crap.Weather Underground? Get real. Even 40 years ago the Weather Underground was ridiculous.Maybe if the Republicans work at it they can gin up an Obama 'connection' to those sneaky Harlem Globetrotters too!But getting back to my point with this post -- at its heart, I wonder if a certain amount of good old-fashioned sexism is jump-starting this anti-Hillary atmosphere.And then there are the attacks on Hillary Clinton by the white, middle-aged men who pretend to be journalists on American TV. Personally, I can't even stand to watch Keith Olbermann anymore. Seeing this stuff listed all in one place by Eric Boehlert is quite striking:

... Mike Barnicle on MSNBC said Clinton "look[ed] like everyone's first wife standing outside a probate court." ... Bill Kristol on Fox News said that among the only people supporting Hillary Clinton were white women, and "[w]hite women are a problem, that's, you know -- we all live with that." ... CNN's Jack Cafferty likened Clinton to "a scolding mother, talking down to a child." ... Fox News' Neil Cavuto suggested Clinton was "trying to run away from this tough, kind of bitchy image." ... MSNBC's Tucker Carlson announced that "when [Clinton] comes on television, I involuntarily cross my legs."... Christopher Hitchens on CNBC described Clinton as being "sort of alternately soppy and bitchy.'"

Then there is Chris Matthews, who is in a class by himself:

- featured a Photoshopped image of Clinton sporting "She Devil" horns while discussing Republican efforts to demonize her;- repeatedly likened Clinton to "Nurse Ratched," the scheming, heartless character from the mental hospital drama One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest;- described her laugh as a "cackle," suggested she was "anti-male," "witchy," and was on a "short ... leash";- referred to Clinton as "Madame Defarge" and described male politicians who endorsed Clinton as "castratos in the eunuch chorus";- compared Clinton to a "strip-teaser," wondered whether she was "a convincing mom," referred to Clinton's "cold eyes" and the "cold look" she supposedly gives people;- claimed that "some men" say Clinton's voice sounds like "fingernails on a blackboard."

Let's not forget David Schuster's awful "pimped out" remark -- as though Hillary is turning Chelsea into a hooker by having her work for the campaign. Had it ever crossed anyone's mind to describe Mary Cheney or Jenna Bush that way?Well, I think they've forgotten -- when women are pissed on, we get pissed off.What turned the corner for Hillary in one of the early primaries was when a bunch of yahoos showed up at her campaign stops and yelled at her to shut up and iron their shirts. These loud-mouthed louts ensured that women came out to vote for Hillary.And this could happen again.

I love the internets

All human beings, Bickerton argues, are born with a sense of grammar, a universal language template. Words can vary from place to place and are bound only by the limits of human creativity and the larynx. But grammar is innate.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Great post of the day

. . . While working as a cleaner, I continued my conversations with blue-collar whites, and the thing that always mystified me was their belief that by owning guns, they could stave off the government if necessary. This is a gun culture conceit that has no basis in reality. The very militarization that rednecks revere is an essential part of the American police apparatus. When someone would talk shit about blasting federal agents, I'd remind them of Waco. The Branch Davidians fought off an ATF assault, killing four agents and wounding 16. Once that happened, their death sentence was secured. There was simply no chance that a bunch of Christian fanatics were getting away with that, the Second and Fourth Amendments be damned. The Branch Davidians were gassed, burned alive, shot up, and bulldozed into the charred earth. So much for fightin' The Man.A few of these guys would scoff at my Waco example, saying that they were better shots than the Branch Davidians. But most would fall silent and shake their heads, their fantasies about armed resistance reinforcing their powerlessness, which in turn made their fantasies even more necessary. Bitter? Hell, that's the least of it.

. . . the federal government is now admitting that it never had a serious case against almost half of the men and youths charged two years ago. . . . Back in June 2006, the overriding sentiment in government and media was that a dangerous attack had been narrowly avoided. The allegations – that Canadian Muslim extremists were planning to behead Prime Minister Stephen Harper, seize MPs and blow up the CBC – seemed unbelievable. But in a post-9/11 world, the unbelievable had, for many, a ring of truth. . .Jamal . . . may indeed be a critic of Canadian foreign policy. But it seems that he is not a terrorist ideologue. . . . The alleged terror training camp turned out to be a hapless adventure in the rain, one where participants spent much of their time in a local doughnut shop and where the ammunition for target practice was apparently provided by one of two paid RCMP informers. As for the alleged plot to behead Harper, it was apparently derailed because the plotters didn't know how to get to Parliament Hill. Nor, it seems (according to material released by the Crown), were they exactly sure who the Prime Minister was. . .

Shortsighted and cheap, too

So, not only is the Sask Party making decisions based on ideology rather than business sense but they're also proving themselves cheapskates and short-sighted ones to boot. The sensible thing to do with a windfall in land sale profits is to use it for long-term investments in Saskatchewan families through programs like the Station 20 West and the children's dental care program, or toward long-term investments in Saskatchewan infrastructure, through building bridges and improving the highways -- or at least use it to leverage private investments in economic development like the PA mill.But no, Brad and the boys would rather fritter it away by letting municipalities use it to cover this spring's municipal budget increases. And next year, when this provincial money is long gone, the mill rate increases will be real whoppers. Sigh.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Robot love

Oh come on, everyone knows that robots are total slut kittens. Raise your hand if you have not fantasized about having sex with a robot.

I believe it was Scott Adams who said that sex and money are the two sources of motivation in the human male; therefore, when virtual reality becomes cheaper than dating, society is doomed.I was kind hoping for the gay bomb, but whatever gets the job done.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Looking the other way?

So George Bush and Cheney and Rice and Rumsfeld all endorsed torture of prisoners of war and the major American media aren/t covering it. Instead, today's talk shows will be chattering about why Barak Obama drinks orange juice.But doing a Google search, its interesting to note how some smaller media outlets are picking up on the torture story.Like the Brattleboro Reformer:

The damage this administration has done to human rights and the rule of law is so immense that this nation will be paying a steep price for it at home and abroad for decades to come.

The Tuscaloosa News writes that Bush and the staff should be investigated for use of torture:

We thought the record of the Bush administration's disregard for domestic and international laws couldn't get any worse. Unfortunately, that was wishful thinking.

... some of the principals understood the moral swamp into which they were wading."Why are we talking about this in the White House?" Ashcroft is quoted as saying at one meeting. "History will not judge this kindly."Nor will history judge the American people kindly if we look the other way.

Funny, isn't it, that "looking the other way" was also charged against the German people at the end of World War Two, with all sorts of pious declarations at the time that the allied democracies wouldn't ever do that.Some Americans, at least, are trying not to.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

So what's stopping you?

Well, what's stopping her? I can't feel sorry for Barbara George, just like I can't feel sorry for Brian Mulroney. Don't whine about how misunderstood you are -- if you have a story to tell, then tell it.

Colour me surprised

Here's just one of the headlines we could have predicted six months ago: SUN, Saskatchewan Party relationship sours. The other ones I'll be expecting to see are: "Downturn in US housing market means Prince Albert mill cannot reopen without government investment" and "Sask government would have won constitutional battle, says Supreme Court" and "Government pours millions into Mosaic Stadium, refuses Station 20 West" Think of a few yourself.

Who are you going to believe -- the RNC or your lying eyes?

Of course McCain actually did say that the United States military should stay in Iraq for the next ceutnry. And of course he now wishes he hadn't said it, because the American people hate the Iraq War and hate any politician who doesn't want to get out.So it follows, as the night the day, that now the Republican National Committee is pretending that McCain never said this at all. They're trotting out their Big Lie technique again, trying to convince the media that the "100 years" remark was actually just a Democratic trick.The Democrats should just laugh and tell the Republicans to quit lying. And by the way, McCain really is a warmonger, too!

Ouch!

Glib, contemptuous, ignorant, incurious, a dupe of anyone who humors his deluded belief in his heroic self, he has bankrupted the country with his disastrous war and his tax breaks for the rich, trampled on the Bill of Rights, appointed foxes in every henhouse, compounded the terrorist threat, turned a blind eye to torture and corruption and a looming ecological disaster, and squandered the rest of the world’s goodwill. In short, no other president’s faults have had so deleterious an effect on not only the country but the world at large . . . When future historians look back to identify the moment at which the United States began to lose its position of world leadership, they will point —rightly— to the Bush presidency. Thanks to his policies, it is now easy to see America losing out to its competitors in any number of area: China is rapidly becoming the manufacturing powerhouse of the next century, India the high tech and services leader, and Europe the region with the best quality of life.

Of the 109 historians surveyed by the History News Network, 107 of them rated the Bush presidency as a failure.

Great post of the day, from DBK

If I were Senator Clinton's strategist . . . I'd have had her get on the universal single payer health care hobbyhorse and she would have ridden that to victory . . . We need a leader who is prepared to take drastic measures to get the economy on the right track and solve some of the most pressing economic worries of the middle class. That takes vision and courage, because there are entrenched interests that hate the whole idea of an economy that is successful for any but a few. Had Senator Clinton been that person, she would have trounced Senator Obama and been a shoo-in.

Yes, I think he is absolutely right about that. And he continues

Senator Obama has not shown that vision or courage at all, either, and I am left hoping it is there, but keeping silent for the duration of the primary. I think I'll be disappointed, but a slim hope is all I have left.

Yes, he is right about that, too. The thing I hope for is this -- if Obama can work out a deal with the Clintons, to involve Hillary in his campaign in some meaningful way like a Vice-Presidency, then the full weight of the Clinton juggernaught comes on side with the Obama campaign. Love her or hate her, she has survived 30 years of the most vicious political games ever played and she knows how to fight back. Obama does not. He still thinks that the Republican leadership can be reasoned with. He thinks he can "explain". He thinks a great speech is all it will take. He is wrong, and Hillary Clinton knows it. The Clintons understand the enemy. They can teach Obama a lot, if he is prepared to listen to them and to harness their considerable energy, charisma, fundraising, and framing prowess. It will take every bit of both Obama and Hillary to defeat the Mugabe Republicans now entrenched in the US government.

Sunday, April 06, 2008

The new Olympic image

The Olympic Torch route has now become just one long protest about Tibet. Unless China smartens up and stops trying to crush the Tibet people, this poster may well become the image of these Olympic games.

Friday, April 04, 2008

Thoughts on a scandal

They're trying really hard, but it's getting increasingly difficult for conservative commentators in Saskatchewan to avoid blasting the stupidities of the provincial Sask Party and the federal Conservative Party -- how much kinder gentler thousand points of light spin can they construct?In today's Star Phoenix column, John Gormley did manage to insert a gratuitous swipe against the NDP for "allegedly" finding the tape and while he ended with a Limbaugh-esk flourish against Pat Atkinson's so-called "drive-by smear" of Brad Wall aka Chester -- as though the scandal was the fault of the people who revealed the tape rather than the people who made it -- really, I didn't think his heart was in it.Someday soon, he's just not going to be able to stand it anymore -- someday soon, I'm going to tune into his radio show and hear him thundering "What were they thinking? How dare they? Are they ignorant or arrogant or both?" and he's going to be talking about the federal Conservatives or the provincial Sask Party, and I will just have to pull over and call.When it comes to Tom Lukiwski's homophobic slur, I agree with Michelle Hugli's commentary. To imply it was all just youthful immaturity doesn't cut it, considering he was 41 years old at the time:

Lukiwski has a lot more to do to get beyond this. Like answer the question: WHY do these comments not reflect who you are today? What's changed? And if he can't answer those questions, then that's an answer in itself.

And while Brad Wall's Ukrainian farmer bit will tarnish his image, and deservedly so, I thought the more revealing and meaningful part of the tape was its anti-union attitude, for which no elected person has apologized. Says Larry Hubich:

"Clearly this government's labour relations strategy is based in a deeply held, irrational dislike of unions and their leadership."

Priceless!

Todd and his father were avid outdoorsmen . . . One weekend he and his father had been out on an early morning duck hunt and had bagged several birds. As the junior partner in the operation, Todd, then about 17, was stuck with the chore of cleaning the ducks. So he dug in, plucking the feathers, lopping off the heads and feet and gutting the half dozen or so birds.When a knock came at the front door, he went to answer, hunting knife in hand and spattered with gore from the quarry he was preparing for the table. . . . It was a pair of middle aged ladies with the inevitable copies of The Watchtower.Being a staunch agnostic and always ready for a good argument, Todd flung open the door and barked "What the hell do you want?" . . . Time, Todd told me later, slowed to the pace of molasses dripping uphill in February.He stared at the Jehovah Witnesses. The Jehovah Witnesses stared back at him, briefly.Mindful of his bloodspattered shirt and the big, bloody knife in his hand, Todd simply grimaced and the servants of Jehovah decided that it would be a good idea to give their witness elsewhere, immediately, if not sooner, and decamped in considerable haste.Hilarity ensued. And ten minutes later when the police cruiser arrived, Todd, his sister, his father and his next-door neighbor who had allowed the panicked Witnesses to use his telephone were still sitting on the front porch roaring and holding their sides. When the constabulary were given the full picture, they were hard pressed not to take part in the merriment.The Witnesses never darkened Todd's door again.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Couldn't happen to a more deserving blog

Premier Brad Wall distanced the Saskatchewan Party from a popular right-wing blog Tuesday over controversial comments posted about inner city Saskatoon.Wall told reporters that the Saskatchewan Party would remove from its own website an endorsement of Wall from Saskatchewan-based Kate McMillan of smalldeadanimals.com.Saskatchewan Party MLAs have referenced the website approvingly in the legislature in the past but Wall said that would likely not occur in the future.

Well, I should hope not. But little does he know that the winged monkey hordes have now been let loose. Here's what she said that was so offensive:

Following the government's cancellation of $8 million in funding for the Station 20 West project in Saskatoon's core, McMillan posted on her blog suggesting "economic stimuli" for the area to get a private sector grocery store.These included "put the cap back on the used needle . . . failing that, share it with your friends. It's a quicker solution to your problem anyway."She also suggested "cross your legs" and "put down the spray can." McMillan later posted "try not vandalizing every business still standing in your neighbourhood, try not selling your ass up and down the street in front of the doors. Try parenting your sticky-fingered brats."

Now, that's a bit much for somebody who doesn't even live in Saskatoon. So please feel free to never to come into the city again --Saskatoon doesn't need this kind of attitude. The Star Phoenix story continues:

Wall said the comments were "beyond the pale.""Those are intolerant and unacceptable remarks," he told reporters, adding that the government has a firm commitment to the province's core urban neighbourhoods despite its reservations about the Station 20 West project.The comments -- and the Sask. Party's relationship to the blog -- was raised in a member's statement by the Opposition NDP Tuesday.Saskatoon Massey Place MLA Cam Broten praised Wall for his actions."The comments were quite hurtful, quite ugly," he told reporters. "We recognize that people have a right to free speech but comments like that don't need to be given more credibility by having an association with the premier of the province."McMillan, who is not a member of the Saskatchewan Party, said her comments were "hyperbolic" but she stood by them and believes many provincial residents share her opinions.She said Wall's condemnation of her comments on Tuesday were "predictable" given "today's politically correct atmosphere."

Well, maybe your friends still think Saskatchewan is just Mississippi North, but everyone else has moved on. Well, except for David Ahenakew, who feels the same way as Kate does, but about different people.

If a protest happens and the media doesn't cover it...

When we were talking the other day about the Dirty Fucking Hippies and the Vietnam War protests, my son asked me why there hadn't been protests against the Iraq War. I said there had been -- 30 million people, the biggest anti-war protests in history -- but the media in the United States and Britain just mostly ignored them. The media had to ignore them because the protests just didn't fit into the comforting media narrative about the (then) imminent Iraq War, about how absolutely justified the war was and how the leaders had to protect the people from those awful weapons and how the protests really had no legitimacy because they were just a bunch of commies.And now Media Bloodhound reports that Big Media is STILL ignoring these protests. If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is listening, did it make any sound?